Kevin White is an American professional footballer who was selected by the Chicago Bears as the seventh overall pick in the 2015 National Football League (NFL) Draft. He played high school football at Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania and also played college football in West Virginia, emerging as one of the best wide receivers of the 2015 class alongside Amari Cooper.
Unfortunately, his professional career has so far been marred by a lot of injuries. Find out more about that below, including his career stats and family members.
Who Exactly is Kevin White?
Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on June 25, 1992, as Kevin Romone Jr. White, the wide receiver started nursing the dream of becoming a footballer when he was very young. He attended Emmaus High School, Pennsylvania and was part of the football team but never shone as he spent most of the seasons either on the bench or playing cornerback.
However, shortly before his senior season, Kevin exploded and was consequently, named an all-Lehigh Valley Athletic Conference receiver and defensive back during his senior year. His academics, however, suffered and as a result of his low grades, he had to enroll in Lackawanna College, a private university with a strong track record of developing quality Division 1 football players.
He spent two seasons at Lackawanna before transferring to West Virginia University in 2013. During his first season, Kevin played 11 games, started nine and had 35 receptions for 507 yards and five touchdowns. He still continued as a starter in his senior season and finished the season with 109 receptions for 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Being a force to reckon with in the game, Kevin White ended up becoming an All American and a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award.
He was drafted by the Chicago Bears as the 7th overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft and on May 6, 2015, he signed a four-year deal worth $15 million, inclusive of a $10 million signing bonus.
However, Kevin’s professional career has not gone as anyone thought having been beset by injuries even before the beginning of his rookie season. He developed an offseason stress fracture in his left shin as a rookie and though the Bears initially tried to let it heal on its own, he continued to feel discomfort during training camp. Consequently, the club’s first-round pick was shut down for the 2015 season.
Kevin White later underwent surgery on August 23, 2015, a steel rod was inserted into his left tibia to stabilize the injury. He was subsequently placed on the team’s physically unable to perform list. After he recovered fully, the footballer went back on the field the following season but sustained a high ankle sprain which gave rise to a fractured fibula in the same leg he injured the previous year, landing him on injured reserve in Week 5.
During the 2017 season opener, against the Atlanta Falcons, Kevin again fractured his left shoulder blade. He was placed on the injured reserve for the third consecutive year on September 10, 2017.
Due to the fact that he has been unable to stay on the field, the Bears predictably refused Kevin White’s fifth-year option worth $13.9 million, in early May, but his base salary ($2,693,597) for the 2019 season is fully guaranteed.
His Career Stats
In an unfortunate turn of event, Kevin White has not been able to live up to expectation since he joined the Bears. He has missed 43 of 48 games, playing only 4 games.
In 2015, he spent his whole rookie season on the physically unable to perform list.
In 2016, he started four games, recording 19 receptions for 187 yards (9.8 average) and one rush for 9 yards (9.0 average).
During the 2017 season, he played in one game catching two passes for six yards.
Thus, he started five games in three NFL seasons, catching 21 passes for 193 yards and rushing once for 9 yards.
Some Interesting Facts About His Family
White was born to Kevin White Sr. and Tammy White. He is the couple’s first child and has five siblings, including three boys – Kyzir, Kizer and Ka’Raun and two girls.
When they were kids, the White brothers nurtured a dream of becoming NFL players and gave themselves to playing all kinds of sports, including basketball, video games, and cornhole.
Being the first, Kevin’s brothers naturally followed in his footsteps, moving from Emmaus high school to Lackawanna college and to West Virginia where they all played football.
See Also: Who is Samaje Perine, The NFL Running Back? His Wife, Brother, Bio
Presently, Ka’Raun and Kyzir have found their ways into the league with the former playing for the Cincinnati Bengals as a wide receiver and the latter as an outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers.
One of Kevin’s sisters, Kiyae plays basketball for the Auburn Tigers on an athletic scholarship.
Although Kevin’s career and NFL dreams seem to have been put down due to injuries, his brothers are optimistic that he would get back stronger than before.
Is He in any Relationship?
The wide receiver is in a relationship with Roxy Gbor (real name – Roskana), a 2014 graduate of the University of Louisville. She is a model registered with 10 Management; a modelling agency in Chicago. The couple has been seen together on various occasions even before White’s NFL draft.
